Realtors services include several aspects of the buying and selling process that are unique to their profession. One of the most noticeable of these is the lengths they go to to market a property for sale. Perhaps the most vital tool in a realtor’s arsenal is the website. A properly maintained and optimized website is an invaluable tool in this modern age of high-technology. A huge percentage of the homes sold in the U.S. are first viewed online and some are even purchased entirely online without the buyer actually visiting the home.

In finding the right home, the experience and contacts of a realtor are unmatched. Realtors have years of experience in matching people with the homes that best suit them and their financial picture. They will be able to quickly eliminate homes that do not suit your needs and wants. Once the proper home has been found, the realtors experience really starts to shine through. The complex contracts process involved with a home sale can seem like a foreign language to those who have not dealt with it before. Realtors make the contract process easy and stress-free. Let’s look at it this way, would you allow a secretary to fix your car? Of course not you would take it to a mechanic. So why let a non-professional sell your home or guide your purchase?

Most of the realtors you find will be honest, but you still need to know which side their bread is buttered on. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of working with realtors, and the best deal on your house. And it all starts with the asking price.

Set Realistic Expectations

Most realtors hate to tell potential clients that, “No, your house won’t sell for that price.” They really want it to. But they sometimes hesitate to give you a realistic price, because sellers are most likely to hire the realtor that quotes them the best sell price. If they don’t tell you what you want to hear, they might lose your business. So seller, make it your business to ask for a market analysis, and have a realistic idea of what your house might sell for. Hit open houses in your neighborhood and look with a buyer’s eye.

Can’t I just reduce my price later? Well, you certainly can, but buyers almost always take that to mean that there is something wrong with the house. Having reasonable expectations, and being in the appropriate price range is much more likely to work to your advantage.

Also, remember that no matter how devoted realtors are the sale of your house doesn’t have nearly the impact on their lives as it does on yours. In fact, having a sign in your front yard can be good for a realtor’s business whether your house sells quickly or not. Now that doesn’t mean that realtors will try to drag their feet- of course not. But you still need to be aware of what’s being done to sell your house.

Marketing in a Slow Market

Find out before you even sign on with your realtor what marketing and advertising methods will be used to sell your house. Print ads, virtual tours, open houses, signage, direct mail postcards, and fliers are all viable options. But don’t assume that they will all be used immediately, or at all. And keep asking as you move along the process. Of course, a lot of print advertising methods are pricey. A veteran realtor will have a good idea of what to use when. But you need to be involved. If what your realtor’s methods don’t seem to be generating much interest, talk about trying something new. Remember, your realtor’s job is to help you get the most out of this investment.

Usually, the commission paid to a realtor® is split equally between himself and his “broker”, who is the licensed agent in charge of a particular firm. If the commission on a sale is $20,000, the realtor® and the broker each get $10,000. Newer methods of payouts to agents include paying “desk fees” to the broker in exchange for higher payouts. For example, if the agent pays $135/month as a “desk fee” he may be entitled to a 95% commission while an agent paying $60/month may only entitled to a 70% payout.

If the agent doesn’t sell the property he listed, but another agent does, the buying and selling brokers each get half of the commission and the 3% commissions are again split with the agent so he gets 1 1/2 % net. So for a $20,000 commission the split looks like – $5,000 each to the two brokers and $5,000 each to the two agents. This is a simplified summary of the process but illustrates the payout procedure. If the agents are on a higher payout because of their monthly desk fees, their portion of the commission is increased and their broker’s portion is reduced proportionally. Industry statistics show that 95%+ of the time the listing agent does not sell the property! So the real money for a realtor is in getting the listing and having another realtor® sell it. The largest commission producers in the industry sell listings and not properties.

The way to save at least half of the realtor’s commission is to list with a flat-fee broker who will list the property on the MLS® (Multiple Listing Service) and Realtor.com® but who does not show the property. The buyer for your property will come from a “buyer’s agent” who brings a client to see your home and make an offer. He is interested in receiving his usual 50% of the full commission or 3% of the sales price. If you offer a 3% commission to the buyer’s agent, you have saved 3% by not having to pay the seller’s agent (listing agent)! In the above example of a $20,000 commission, the agent who brings the buyer still gets $10,000 but you are saving $10,000.

What if you are unfamiliar with the sales and contracting process and you need help? For the $10,000 commission savings you can hire an attorney to review any contract and give you advice usually for less than $500 so you are still ahead $9,500. But better yet, the attorney can give legal advice that your realtor® can not, and you have recourse against your lawyer if something goes wrong.

So to save at least 50% of your commission, should you decide to have a realtor® sell your house, use a buyer’s agent only and offer him a 2.5% or 3% commission. Another unique benefit of only paying a buyer’s agent is that if desperation sets in and you need to sell quickly, you can increase your payout to the buyer’s agent and attract many more buyers than using a seller’s agent. The highest commission seen in the past year is a 12% commission to buyer’s agents for condo units. In the depressed condo market these days, it is not uncommon to see 10% commissions to buyer’s agents. So if you have decided to sell your home on the MLS using a realtor®, you can save substantial money and sell your home faster by focusing on paying only a buyer’s agent to sell your home.

For one, a good Realtor has the experience and understanding of the real estate market beyond what you can pick up in 1 month of looking alone. Personally, I would never buy in another city without employing a local Realtor. Sure I could save a little bit of money, but I could loose a whole lot more money by buying an over-priced house in the worst part of town. Every city and even every neighborhood has different advantages and disadvantages, and it is important to have a guide who can help you understand all these points.

A good Realtor has the knowledge and skills to guide a Buyer into the right neighborhood. Taking into account price, location, and style, it is quite the balancing act to determine where someone will be happy living. Before becoming a Realtor, I only really knew the couple neighborhoods I had lived in. After driving around for thousands and thousands of hours and looking at all kinds of homes, you definitely get a sense of what is available in each neighborhood. This is the kind of experience that a Realtor can provide. In addition, Realtors have the hands-on, or maybe ears-on, knowledge of what are the most desired areas and trends in the real estate market from being in the car for thousands and thousands of hours with clients and listening to what they are looking for.

A good Realtor also has the professional experience to handle all the aspects of an offer, negotiating, and closing process. There’s more to offers than just a piece of paper with some signatures. A Realtor has an understanding of what is a typical and atypical offer and hence, can guide you through what sales price, option period days, closing date, and the myriad of other options would be appropriate. And most importantly, a Realtor will negotiate on your behalf to get you the best deal. It is so much simpler to have someone with experience to do all this for you rather than guess if your requests are reasonable. And finally, a Realtor will guide you through the closing process with all kinds of help like referrals to good inspectors and lenders as well as making sure the process goes as smooth as possible without any worries from the Buyer.

Purchasing a home is most Americans’ primary investment. When making any other investment, it makes sense to consult with an expert, so why go at it alone? Find a good Realtor who fits with your values and has the right experience to help you.

In today’s market, one of the key requirements to being a skillful realtor is familiarity with the Internet. This not only speeds up the property finding, it also means that the computer can do the compilations for you, and you can get the perfect home without getting out of your chair!

Once you have chosen the area you wish to live in, then choosing the right real estate agent for you will be your first priority when buying a new home. The emphasis here is on ‘choosing the right real estate agent for you’. This is because it is not difficult to find an efficient and willing realtor, but the ideal is to find one that is suited to your personality

If you are a ‘let’s get this show on the road’ type of person, then you will want an up and at’em type of realtor. One who is slower and very precise may drive you up the wall! You also need to feel that the realtor that you choose knows exactly what you are looking for in a home and will not waste your time (or their own time) offering you property that is unsuitable. This will only happen if you communicate accurately to your realtor exactly what you really want.

If you are looking at vacation property, there is often a ready made realtor who knows everything you need to know about the property involved. This is often the case with vacation homes and beach front properties that have been built to attract investors wishing to buy second homes. Often these are large blocks of condos with recreational facilities included.

If you are the type of buyer that says ‘when I see it, I will know it’, then the Internet, with all its choices of homes to buy is invaluable.

One of the questions to ask a realtor, is how familiar they are on the Internet. Make sure they can contact you by email and that they can turn up the MLS listings for you to look at. Sit with your realtor and get the virtual tour on a couple of homes.

Often, realtors will actually state in their profiles that they are internet proficient. This may often mean that they may know more about market trends and economic indicators in the business world as well as having all the realty facts at their fingertips,

If you want to save time, money and frustration, then take the time to find a realtor that knows exactly what you want and who knows exactly where to find it on the Internet.